1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates, generally, to search engines and search engine interface tools and methods, and, more particularly, to a system, method, and architecture for providing in the client-server environment of the Internet an interface between a client and a search engine to control the search process to selectively and restrictively provide the client and search engine with access to data files or content.
2. Relevant Background.
A significant and growing problem is the controlling or restricting of access to content provided on the Internet. One of the most prevalent uses of the Internet, e.g., the World Wide Web portion of the Internet, is searching for and quickly browsing information. Generally, an individual or user performs a search by using a client node (such as a personal computer, wireless device, and the like) with a browser application to link and communicate with content providers over the Internet. The user generally enters a search request that specifies their search criteria, such as by typing in search terms with Boolean logic or other symbols including “and,” “or,” “not,” and the like, and a search engine then performs the search for the user. The search engine often includes a front end application or interface for receiving the search request and processing the search results into an expected or useful form including appropriate format and meeting communication protocols (e.g., HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)). Each interface is configured or adapted for communicating with only one of the many search engines, such as Ultraseek™, Webcrawler™, Excite™, Alta Vista™, and the like, and consequently, such interfaces are tied to a specific search engine and are not useful with more than one search engine.
Search engines are software applications or programs that return a list of Web sites or pages (or the Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for those sites or pages) that match the criteria in the user's search request. The user can then select from the results in the list to hotlink to a particular Web site. Search engines typically maintain in separate storage or memory only a small subset of the content providers' information to quicken searching. In this regard, search engines first perform a process called spidering, indexing, or populating in which the search engine directly accesses the content providers' content files or databases, gathers and stores linking and summary information for searching and including in the results list, and indexes or tags the stored information into collections for later searching. Typically, the search engine has direct and complete access to all of the information in the content providers' files that are designated for viewing by one or more of the providers' customers. Because the search engine controls the information it collects from the content provider, the search engine also controls what information is provided to the user. Generally, once access is granted to a search engine, the user is allowed to freely search the entire contents of the search engine's collections, which corresponds to searching all of the information provided by the content provider.
However, there are many situations for which a content provider does not want searchers to have unlimited access to all of their content. For example, an online education service provider may offer numerous courses and have information for these courses stored in content files, but each student typically will only be registered for and have paid for a few of the courses. In this case, the education service provider only wants the student to be able to access information pertaining to the courses for which they have registered, not to all course content. Similarly, an entertainment service provider may offer many types of entertainment (such as audio, video, pictures, and the like) but would want to restrict a searcher to the information covered by their subscription. Another example includes content that is categorized into differing levels of security, e.g., public information, minimal security information, and high-level security information. In this case, the content provider may wish to allow any searcher to access the public information but place restrictions on access to the other types of information. Existing Web servers and search engines generally do not function to restrict a searcher's access to content based on the searcher's information (e.g., paid enrollment, paid subscription, security clearances, and the like). Instead, access to content is provided on an all or nothing basis.
Some content providers try to limit access by requiring users or searchers to successfully initiate a login session prior to searching content. For example, the host, e.g., a Web server, may execute a login procedure that matches the client (i.e., the searcher) and their identification information with an access control list. For example, students registered for an online class may be placed on an access control list for access as a student to a host Web server. However, once access is granted to the Web server, the searcher, e.g., the student, typically has access to all of the content serviced by the Web server and its associated search engine. Separate host servers, login sessions, and content databases can be provided to limit access, but this is often expensive and creates maintenance problems.
Accordingly, there remains a need for methods and systems for providing, on a selective and restrictive basis, access to a client or searcher to the content or information provided by content providers, e.g., direct access to the content is preferably blocked. Preferably, such a method or system would not be tied or locked to a single type of search engine or server configuration. Additionally, it is preferable that searchers be selectively provided access to content while still being allowed to perform searches in the manner they are accustomed, such as performing free form searches and the like, without knowledge of the restrictions (i.e., the search request is entered as in unrestricted search systems and the results appear unrestricted to the searcher).